Lindsay Lohan’s Odd Dinner Date: Woody Allen

File this one under "strange celebrity friendship." Lindsay Lohan spent her Saturday night having dinner with Woody Allen.

Instead of her typical night out — last month she reportedly got into two different fights while out clubbing with pals in Los Angeles — the troubled star and the much older director, who's had his own share of controversy, met up for a meal at the high-level restaurant Philippe in New York City. After dining together on Chinese cuisine, Lohan, in a spring-like floral coat, followed Allen out of the restaurant, talking to his wife Soon-Yi Previn, before the actress hopped into a waiting car and the dining companions went their separate ways.

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"American Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe was at the restaurant during the random dinner party and tweeted the sighting, writing, "I just had dinner in #Phillipe's in New York. I'm sure Lindsay Lohan and Woody Allen were on the table in the corner? Both looking good!"

While there are reports stating that, Lohan, 25, and Allen, 76, have "been friends for years" and he's one of her "biggest supporters," that doesn't seem to be the case. Earlier this year when Lohan was photographed with Allen and Previn at the amfAR gala in New York, the Hollywood Reporter did a little investigating into how they knew each other and found out that they met on New Year's Eve. Apparently agent John Burnham threw a party for Allen and Lohan attended. After they were seen together at the amfAR dinner, Allen was asked about the friendship and he said they were merely acquaintances, "I had seen her on New Year's Eve. She was at a party that I was at, and we were just saying, 'What a coincidence.' That was the gist of it. I've only met her those two times in my life."

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There's no official word that this budding friendship will transition into a business relationship, but Lohan would certainly jump at the chance of working with the four-time Academy Award winner, who picked up his latest Oscar for "Midnight in Paris. The former child star, who is better known for her legal trouble than acting work at this point, is trying to revive her career and recently landed a role playing Elizabeth Taylor in an upcoming Lifetime movie and did a guest stint on "Glee." However, her "Glee" role was drastically cut because she reportedly showed up late to the set disrupting production of the Fox TV series.

It will be interesting to see if Allen is willing to take a similar risk and employ her — or if they keep their relationship strictly on friendly terms.

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